Price-drop tv

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

price-drop tv

Launched	11 June, 2003
Owned by	sit-up Ltd
Audience share	0.1 % (Feb' 2007, [1])
Country	United Kingdom
Broadcast area	United Kingdom
Sister channel(s)	bid tv, speed auction tv
Website	www.price-drop.tv
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview	Channel 24
Satellite
Sky Digital	Channel 653
Cable
Virgin Media	Channel 741

price-drop tv (which dropped the dot from its name price-drop.tv on 21 January 2005) is a shopping channel owned by sit-up Ltd and is focused on falling prices, using a form of uniform-price Dutch auction.

It began broadcasting on 11 June 2003, with broadcasting hours of 4pm - midnight, Wednesday to Saturday. This was later extended to 8am-1am 7 days a week. It is available to more than 12 million homes in the UK, and is achieving weekly revenue of over £3 million.

Its place on Freeview was once insecure, as Channel 4 hoped to launch a new channel in its place. On October 1, 2004, price-drop.tv changed which multiplex it broadcasts on so as to avoid this conflict.

Prior to December 2004, each 'price drop' started at the guide price (see above) - however, with the removal of guide prices, it is no longer possible to judge how closely the starting prices reflect the true value of products. The price continues to drop, and buyers can 'drop in' either by phone or on the web and secure their place in the sale. The price continues to drop until all products have been sold, at which point the price 'locks' and everyone pays the lowest price. Occasionally the channel will have promotions where a small number of products (at random times) will "Megadrop" to £1.

Calls into the channel are charged at a premium rate of £1.50 and the postage and packaging costs (upwards of £7.99) is added on to the price seen in the purple arrow, thus giving an automatic cost of at least £9.49 before the price of the item is considered. Even the Megadrops which are only £1 end up being at least £10.49 because of these charges.

sit-up Ltd's shopping channels are interactive, with customers' names scrolling on screen as they phone in. People can enter conventionally via TV and phone, or over the Internet.

In October 2005, a start price graphic was introduced and so, for all intents and purposes, the guide prices are back. On 10 May 2006, the graphics were changed, and they now sell products in pounds and pence, rather than just pounds.